Political parties put spin on positions on ballot

Hours after the Electoral Commission (EC) conducted balloting for positions on the presidential ballot paper for the upcoming elections, some key political parties have taken advantage of their positions to do vigorous campaigning across the country.

All the six political parties and the independent candidate cleared by the EC to contest this year’s polls have given some divine spins to their placement on the presidential ballot paper and are using their positions to their advantage.

While the Convention People’s Party (CPP) is touting its number one position as ‘Esor ho’, the National Democratic Party (NDP) is steeped in ‘Two Sure, Two Direct’, while the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is interpreting its third position as a confirmation of the choice of President Mahama by God.

For the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), it is steeled in “Nduom for President” and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is high on “High Five’’. The People’s National Convention’s (PNC’s) sixth position is anchored on the belief that since Ghana attained political independence on March 6, the position will stir the party to champion the cause of achieving economic independence. Meanwhile, Jacob Osei Yeboah feels comfortable with “Asie ho”.

Ballot positions

At the end of the balloting done last Wednesday at the EC headquarters in Accra, the CPP’s nominee, Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, took the first position, while the NDP candidate, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings, grabbed the second position.

The third position was taken by the NDC’s candidate, Mr John Dramani Mahama; the fourth by PPP’s Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom and the fifth by NPP’s candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

The sixth position was booked by PNC’s Dr Edward Nasigre Mahama and the seventh and last by the only independent candidate in the race for the Flagstaff House, Mr Yeboah, popularly referred to as JOY.

Significance of placement

Speaking to his party’s position on the presidential ballot paper, the National Chairman of the CPP, Professor Edmund N. Delle, described the picking of the number one spot on the ballot paper as a divine intervention to ensure victory for the CPP.

He said God was revealing to Ghanaians ahead of the December 7 polls that He had destined Mr Greenstreet to win the election and so it was not by chance that he was number one on the ballot paper.

“God does things in mysterious ways. Sometimes, He reveals things to us even before they happen. I’m happy that we are number one on the ballot; I know it is by divine intervention,” he told journalists last Wednesday during his campaign tour of the Northern Region.

Mr Greenstreet also interpreted the party’s grabbing of the top spot as a sign from the “Almighty God”. 

For the second spot holder, Nana Konadu, being number two would help propel the party to the level that it wanted to get to.

Nana Konadu said: “This win that we have got as NDP is not a win for me alone; it is a win for our supporters. It is a win for women, it is a chance for us as a nation to change what is going on, so the young people, women, the elderly, everybody in Ghana who wants Ghana to be seen as having a stamp on the African continent will see this as their win as well.”

NDC and NPP

The NDC, for its part, expressed the belief that being number three on the two ballot papers was ample proof and confirmation that incumbent President Mahama would be the winner of the polls on December 7, 2016.

Indeed, the party has adopted a Bible verse – John 3:16 - to confirm its belief. The Scripture states in part: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son..,” and runs through the party’s jingle currently playing on the airwaves.

The National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Kofi Adams, ascribed the party’s  third position on the ballot paper to the handiwork of God.

He said aside from the party grabbing third place on the parliamentary ballot, President Mahama would go into history as the third John to have contested the Presidency on the ticket of the NDC. 

But while the PPP, which occupies the  fourth spot, has not attached any significance to its position, the NPP, which is at number five, said it believed that the number, which was the same on the parliamentary ballot, signified that its flag bearer would be the David in Biblical history who took five stones to defeat the giant Goliath, referring to the incumbent President.

The Ashanti Regional Chairman of the NPP, Mr Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman ‘Wontumi’, described the party's fifth position on the ballot paper as a very good omen.

Linking Nana Akufo-Addo’s position to the five smooth stones David picked before facing Goliath in the Bible, he expressed the firm conviction that victory would be for the NPP at the December polls.

"Nana is going to stone Mahama with his number five position on the ballot paper,” he said.

The NPP, which has already made a jingle that is playing on air and drumming the number five position into the ears of its followers, also believed that Nana Akufo-Addo would be Ghana’s fifth President in the Fourth Republic, after Presidents Jerry Rawlings, John Kufuor, John Atta Mills and Mahama.

“When you meet your brother or sister, just give him or her a ‘high five’”, is the current refrain of the party.

Occupiers of the sixth and seventh spots, the PNC and the independent candidate, have, however, not ascribed any significance to their positions on the ballot yet.

JOY’s  shocker

However, the independent Mr Yeboah is optimistic of emerging the overall winner when the country goes to the polls.

He said his victory would shock Ghanaians like that of Donald Trump, the US President-elect, who was least expected to emerge victorious, considering the numerous polls that went in favour of his competitor.

Mr Yeboah said his victory would save Ghanaians from the shackles of poverty and empower them economically. 

A look back

Ascribing significance to spots on the ballot paper is not a new phenomenon in Ghanaian politics.

After balloting for positions in the last election in 2012, the General Secretary of the NDC, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who picked the number one position for President Mahama, said the top spot would make the party’s voter education easier. 

“This is a good omen for us, as the first position also falls in line with our ‘One touch victory slogan’ for Election 2012,” Mr Nketia said then.

The then National Chairman of the NPP, the late Mr Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, also said of the third position picked for the party’s presidential candidate, Nana  Akufo-Addo: “Three is a good number for the NPP. With number three, we are sure to win. The NPP picked number one position in 2008 and we lost the elections and the late President Mills picked number three and won.”